I have never been a particularly good runner but it’s something I enjoy doing and I’ve run a handful of marathons over the years (nothing particularly fast so don’t be too impressed!). This year, though, is a little different. I have set myself a running challenge that will really test me: to run at least 10K every day throughout 2016 in a bid to raise money for St. Mary’s Hospice. St Mary’s Hospice provides specialised supportive and palliative care for people with life limiting conditions throughout South Cumbria where I live.

Regardless of the aches and pains, regardless of my travels, regardless of the weather and regardless of my work commitments, I’ll be doing my utmost to keep to my goal of running at least 10K each and every day of the year, and will be looking to raise 10K (£10,000) for charity in the process. The distance itself isn’t so bad, but doing it ‘day in, day out’ is going to be really challenging. It means that I’m running the equivalent of around a marathon every 4 days – throughout the year.

I’m preferring to run off-road most of the time, to minimise impact on my joints, often accompanied by our dog, George, who loves coming out with me but must be covering about five times the distance I am doing due to the amount he runs back and forth. It’s quite hilly where I live and already I’ve clocked over 300 miles and completed more than 30,000 feet of ascent (that’s higher than Everest is from sea level!).

And it has already been testing at times. When in Turkey recently, I knew I was going to be busy all day (attending the World Tourism Forum, followed by a blogger event in the evening), so got up at around 6am in order to pound the streets of Istanbul in darkness before the long day ahead. I did at least get to see a lovely sunrise on that occasion.

I’ve also suffered with Achilles tendonitis a little, but am managing to keep those pains at bay by rolling the backs of my calf muscles over a rolling pin (sounds odd, I know, but it was a tip I picked up on YouTube and it seems pretty effective should any fellow sufferers wish to know!). And just a couple of days ago, I fell whilst out on my run, hurting my knee and a rib (I’m wondering if I’ve cracked a rib), so yesterday’s run proved to be particularly challenging… but I’m pleased to say I made it despite the discomfort!

I’ll be reporting on my progress from time to time, primarily on my justgiving page, so please follow me there. If you could be so kind as to make a donation, that would be really appreciated – your money will go to a great cause. If you aren’t able to donate, if you could simply share this page with friends or on your social media channels, that would be fantastic also. Thank you for your support!

This is a wonderful cause to be a part of! Not only do you end up maintaining a healthy lifestyle, you’re also committed to a meaningful cause! What a great goal for the year! I’ve always put a lot of emphasis on making sure the body is lithe and healthy all year round so I can enjoy my life and my travels. I am not that great of a runner either but it’s such an easy work out – you can squeeze it in anywhere in the world! It also helps me clear my head. Good luck on this endeavour, Paul! I’m rooting for you!

As mentioned in the blog post, I fell the other day and, at first, I thought I’d just hurt my knee (and pride, although I think only one person may have seen me go over!). Later, though, my lowermost rib on my right side was quite painful – I’m not sure I’ve cracked it, but bruised at the very least and still tender now. Running the next day with that discomfort was certainly testing, and it was a very slow one!

Today (run number 51) was another challenge. I am away at a sailing event at the moment but seem to have left my trainers at home. I didn’t realise until later in the day when I came to do my run and so I’ve ended up just running in normal shoes!!! Far from ideal but I managed it!

Paul you’re a maniac. A hero no doubt, but an absolute maniac! Well done for taking up the challenge and best of luck for the cause. You’ve definitely inspired me to keep paddling every morning (well, not on weekends.) Great to have met you in Istanbul!

It is a worthy cause, and a huge effort. 10K is a long way and good luck.I am behind you all the way and I would be if I was running I aim for 10,000 steps, which in Paula steps is about 8km, and mostly that is because I pick coffee shops further away.

Wow, impressive goal and great cause! I’m inspired…I can’t run a 10k currently, much less a 10k every day. Good for you! Thanks for sharing your goal and your cause :) Look forward to reading updates on your daily 10k adventures.

At the moment, I’m averaging around 6.7 miles a day. If I could sustain it throughout the year, bearing in mind this year is a leap year(!), this would mean a total of around 2,450 miles which would take me anywhere in the UK. :)

It would be just a little bit short of going from John O’Groats to Land’s End, and back, and then back to Land’s End again. Or, to put in another way for our US friends, it’s about the same as going from New York to Los Angeles (as the crow flies).

Outstanding job! You’re right, the trick is doing it every day regardless. Life has a way of throwing up many barriers. I do love running when I’m travelling much more than at home. The time flies by because I have new things to look at. Keep up the good work!

Yesterday’s run was a rather eventful one to say the least! I was on Scout Scar (the place you see in the first three photos above) which is a limestone escarpment close to where I live. The photographs don’t really show it, but there is a cliff with quite a drop. You get a better idea from this footage I shot with a drone:

Anyway, I was running along with our dog, George, minding my own business. He likes to say ‘hello’ to other dogs being walked and had just been to see one little dog, but she yapped at him a bit, and we just kept on running. Next thing I know, a few seconds later, we heard screams from behind. This same dog had just vanished over the cliff edge and the two ladies with her had seen her disappear. I didn’t see it happen but turned back, got George on the lead, and approached the cliff edge. At first, there was no sign of her – I thought it highly likely that the fall could have killed her, or at the very least resulted in a serious injury. It must have been around a 30-foot drop and the dog was only small.

After looking for a short while, I was amazed and relieved to see the dog trotting about, not knowing what to do (there was no easy way back up). I said to these two ladies that I would try and get to the dog by running back down and round, and trying to get to the point where she was. As you can see from the video, it isn’t easy terrain and there are lots of thorny trees to negotiate. Eventually, with a bit of guidance from the people above, I managed to get to where the dog had last been seen. I still had our dog at this point, so secured his lead to a tree and went looking to see if I could locate the one that had fallen (she hadn’t been seen for a short while at this point). Thankfully, she came into view shortly after and was happy enough to approach me and let me pick her up. Apart from a small cut above her eye, she seemed to be OK.

I called up to one of the owners to say that I would return to the road with the dog, but that it would take me a while. It hadn’t been easy getting to her, and now I had to get back with my dog on the lead, and this other dog under my arm, trying to negotiate the scree and uneven steep ground. I’m pleased to report that I was able to successfully return her to her owners, but the whole operation must have taken about an hour.

They offered to give me a lift home but I still had my 10K to complete! :)

Wow what an adventure. You deserve a medal :) I can imagine that the lady owners must have been thrilled you were there…otherwise the dog may have got lost by the sounds of it, even after surviving such an incident.

I can’t say the owners didn’t thank me, but I think they were more in a state of shock than anything at the time.

March now complete!

TOTAL DISTANCE AS OF 31st March – 620 miles

Other stats/info:

Falls: 0 (but I did rescue a dog that fell off a cliff!)
Total falls so far this year: 2

Injuries: not been too bad this month

Highlight: running the Lakeland Trails Cartmel 18K Challenge on 19th March. Finished 67th out of a field of about 450 (I was in the ‘Challenge’ rather than the ‘Race’) with a time of 1hr 42m 55s.

Weight change: -1.25 lbs
Total weight change so far this year: -6 lbs

My run on 1st April was also something of a milestone in that it was my 92nd run of the year, so it means that I am now over one quarter of the way towards completing the challenge. Still a long way to go, but a significant chunk already done!

I am also doing a very similar challenge. I’m running a minimum distance of one mile (Sound very small compared to yours) every day throughout 2016. I’m doing this challenge to raise money for The Children’s Society. I’ve been suffering with an illness in the last few years, so this is not only to challenge me physically but also a mentally.

At the end of this month, we’ll be exactly one third of the way (122 days) into our respective challenges… so only double what we’ve already done by then still to go (I’m not sure if that sounds encouraging or demoralising, mind!)

I am not an especially good runner so don’t know if I can help as far as tips are concerned. Personally, I find that the earlier in the day that I can get my run done, the better, leaving me with the rest of the day to get any tasks done. That works well for me also because we have a dog that needs ‘walking’ and he doesn’t like to wait until the afternoon… :)

I have found that as well, however I’m not a morning person, so waking up super early to try fit in a run before work at 9am isn’t for me. So I tend to do the runs straight afterwork so I can still fit in an evening to relax. And then run in the mornings on weekends.

Do you have any tips for recovery? What kind of exercises/stretches have you been doing to avoid these horrendous muscle cramps?

I’m not very good when it comes to stretching. I tend to do it as and when I need, rather than as a routine. I’ve had a bit of tendonitis around the Achilles area on and off, and whenever I get that, I do an exercise I found on YouTube where you basically sit on the floor and roll your calf muscle over a rolling pin. I find that really helps even if it’s a little comfortable, along with stretching my calfs.

The other things that I find useful for avoiding injury are to run off-road (most my runs are on the fells in Cumbria, rather than on tarmac, so less impact) and to run slowly. I don’t tend to go for a time at all – I just look to get the distance done and still be in a fit state to run the next day :)

Tomorrow I am actually taking part in a local trail event, so it’ll be 17K rather than just 10K for that one – I can’t help trying to go for a better time in those, so I might be suffering come Sunday’s run!

So far this year I’ve run 1,254 miles (there’s a couple of miles unaccounted for on my Strava) and climbed over 121,000 feet. Or to put it another way, I’ve run the distance from John o’Groats to Land’s End and back (as the crow flies, at least) and climbed the equivalent of Everest four times (admittedly without the need for crampons).

Stumbled onto your blog recently (love to travel) and found this article about your goal to run a 10K or more everyday. Impressive. As a triathlete, I can imagine what that truly means and the challenges and pain involved with such an ambitious goal. I don’t know how you are managing, but I would love to hear more about your daily trails and journey. I tried to find you on Strava with your name, however Paul Johnson is a very common name in the UK apparently.

Any chance you might share your Strava profile name with us?

Best of luck with your goal! I look forward to hearing more about your progress and journey.

I am still going! In less than a week I shall reach run number 266 which will be a bit of a milestone for me since it will mean I have just 100 left to do in order to complete the challenge.

I am tending to run off road so as not to pound my knees too much, and I usually run at a pretty slow pace in order to keep injuries at bay. (My regular run is 6.5 miles with around 870 feet of ascent, which I usually take just oven an hour to do.)

Bravo Paul!! your dedication and commitment is utterly admirable. Big kudos to you. 10 ks EACH day is not something to shrug off, so this says a lot about a man’s character. I struggle with 6 ks a day and have whittled it down to 3 x 6ks a week. Keep running and all the best!

For those wondering, I’m pleased to report that I completed the challenge and have so far raised almost £5,000 for St. Mary’s Hospice. You can read more (and donate… please!) at http://www.justgiving.com/notanother10k

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